


Replacement

by JadeDahlia



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Post-Season/Series 02, Voltron: Legendary Defender Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-09-19 08:32:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9430184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadeDahlia/pseuds/JadeDahlia
Summary: Keith tells the Paladins that Shiro wants him to lead Voltron. Lance doesn’t take it well. (Warning, contains MAJOR spoilers for season 2. Also some mild language.)





	

"Shiro told me that if anything ever happened to him, he wanted me to lead Voltron."  
Lance was stunned for a moment as Keith announced this to the Paladins. He didn't actually hear him say that just now, right?  
"Haha, that's a good one, Keith! Everyone knows I'm the roguish, charming, and handsome leader we all deserve."  
"I'm serious, Lance."

It had been three days since Shiro's mysterious disappearance. Nobody had any idea what happened to him or where he could be. The idea of anyone taking his place as leader was still something none of the Paladins wanted to think about. Least of all Lance. And he certainly didn't want _Keith_ of all people to be the one to fill in for him.

Lance knew it made sense. After all, Keith had already been able to pilot the Black Lion in an emergency once, and Keith was closer to Shiro than anyone else on the team. Lance also knew that despite his earlier claim, he believed Keith really was better than him in every way. He was everything Lance wished he could be, without even having to work for it.

But that didn't make it any easier for Lance to accept it.

“Oh, I get it. Shiro decided to pick you over me. _Again_."  
“Lance, what are you talking abo-”  
“I mean why am I even here, right? You're the Golden Boy, everyone else is a freaking genius, and me? I'm just dead weight.”  
“Lance, that's not-”  
“I'll just go be useless somewhere else.”

Lance stormed out. Hunk tried to place a hand on his shoulder, but Lance pushed it away. The others looked on in concern. Keith hesitated. He wanted to go after him, to tell him that the things he was saying about himself weren't true at all, but he was certain that those words would fall on deaf ears while Lance was like this.

But, Keith being Keith, he decided to go after him anyway.

Keith found himself standing in front of the door to Lance's room. He was still a bit hesitant, but he told himself that if he was going to be the new (and hopefully temporary- he refused to consider the idea that it would be permanent) leader of Voltron, he had to make sure he could bring together everyone on the team. He certainly wasn't checking up on Lance due to any personal concern about him, nope. Purely professional. Really.

He knocked on the door.  
“Go away,” said a muffled voice on the other side.  
“Lance, I just want to talk. Open the door.”  
“What, are you going to rub it in my face again that you're our leader now?”  
“No. Please, just let me in.”  
“Ugh, fine. But if you start bragging I will kick you out. Literally.”

Keith smirked at that comment. If Lance could make jokes he must be feeling a little better now at least. Keith entered Lance's room. Lance sat down on the bed. When Keith tried to sit next to him, Lance spread out, leaving no room for him, so Keith sat in the desk chair instead.

“Listen. I know things are hard right now. We all miss Shiro. But it's even more important now that we all stick together and work as a team,” said Keith.  
“I told you, you guys don't need me, you're all doing just fine without me.”  
“That's not true! What makes you think we've been doing all of this without you?”  
“Might as well be. I mean, you could probably do everything I can and do it ten times better. Hell, if you can pilot the Black Lion, who's to say you can't take Blue too? Face it, man, I'm nothing next to you.”

Keith's face fell. It was hard for him to hear Lance, his teammate, who until now he had thought was incredibly cocky and full of himself, talk about himself this way. He wasn't sure how he had missed that Lance's seeming overconfidence was actually a front for some major insecurities. Or that he was the primary cause of them. Keith stood up and walked towards Lance, then put both his hands on his shoulders. He felt Lance tense up for a moment, but once he relaxed a bit, Keith began speaking.

“Lance, you're not 'useless' or 'dead weight' or whatever other negative ideas you've been feeding yourself. You're an important member of the team.”  
“How so?”  
“Well, you're our sharpshooter for one thing. And even if your jokes are kind of dumb they do help lighten the mood sometimes.”  
“Um, thanks, I guess?”  
“But most of all, you're the one who brought us all together in the first place. Without you, there probably wouldn't be a Team Voltron. Besides, remember that time you shot Sendak after waking up from a coma? That was pretty badass.”  
“Wait, _you_ think _I'm_ badass?”  
“Yup.”

Keith looked relieved when Lance smiled at him. He wasn't prepared and nearly lost his balance when Lance threw his arms around him though.

“Thank you. That really means a lot, coming from you,” said Lance. “You know, even though I'm kind of jealous of you for being so effortlessly awesome, I've actually always sort of looked up to you.”  
“Um, thanks, I guess?”

Lance laughed as Keith echoed his remark from earlier. He stopped when he suddenly felt Keith return his hug. 

“You're important to me too, Lance. And I don't just mean as a teammate.”

Lance felt his face turning red. Surely Keith didn't mean…? Before he could get any clarification though, he heard a knock at the door. Keith launched himself across the room before Lance could process what just happened.

“Hey, buddy? It's me, Hunk. Pidge, Allura, and Coran are here too. We just wanted to make sure you were doing okay?”  
While Lance was feeling better after his talk with Keith, he wished his friends had slightly better timing, but appreciated their concern regardless.  
“Yeah. Thanks, guys!” said Lance.  
“Okay, cool. Wanna play video games later? I figured out how to set up that game console Pidge got at the space market.”  
“Sounds great! Awesome job, man.”

Lance waited until he couldn't hear their footsteps anymore before looking over at Keith. He had never seen Keith look so flustered.  
“Hey man I know you're the Red Paladin and all, but that doesn't mean your face needs to match.”  
“Ha ha, very funny,” Keith said.  
“Anyway. Thank you. Really. I'm glad we had this talk.”  
“Me too.”  
“Also I'm gonna kick your ass at video games later.”  
“You're on.”


End file.
